2.04.2013

Offline advertising? Use Your URL Wisely!

Enquiro Study Shows URL Advertising Importance!

Why you need a URL in your offline advertising.
Enquiro found, like it or not, potential customers seeing your ad will go looking for you online. Are you making it easy for new clients to find you online? Check the tips from Enquiero below to help you get the biggest return on your investment.
How Enquiro Conducted its Study
Enquiro showed participants a TV commercial. In an overlay at the bottom of the frame, each participant saw one of te following::

  • The company name (no call to action)
  • A phone number
  • A vanity URL

Vanity URLs Not Recommended for Promos!

After watching the commercial, each participant was asked what they’d do to follow up - more than one choice was allowed.
Visiting the website, and searching for the company online, were the top two activities, regardless of the call to action.
Surprisingly, participants were even more likely to visit the website when there was no call to action. However,  they told Enquiero the wrong website! The client was using a vanity URL the participants couldn't remember or guess – instead, the URL they guessed at would take them to the site’s homepage, where there was no information relevant to the commercial. If customers are looking for you online, you'll want them to find the information they’re seeking.

Url Usage Tips from Enquiero

Enquiero advised their client:

  • Use URLs and a phone number in their commercials
  • Use folders in their URLs such as www.company.com/promo rather than vanity URLs www.buyfromcompany.com
  • Reinforce the call to action by including 'call 1-800-555-1234 or visit company.com/promo' in the commercial voice over

Since potential customers are going to try and find you online, how many businesses are actually making it easy for potential customers to accomplish that goal?

UK Businesses Missing Potential Opportunities. Are You?

A recent study from Nominet looked at how URLs were used in £40 million worth of print and TV advertising in the UK. Although the UK is pretty sophisticated in online marketing, only two thirds of print and TV advertising had a URL. When you break that apart, 83% of newspaper advertising had a URL, while only 61% of TV advertising did. Tens of millions of British pounds of advertising could be more effective.

Are you throwing money away by not including a URL in your advertising?
Do you use URLs in your offline advertising? Why or why not?
Let us know what you think by commenting below.

About Enquiro:

Enquiro now part of Mediative, a Yellow Pages Group company is based in Kelowna, BC. Enquiro, a global leader in  research, does fascinating studies about consumer behaviour. Enquiro first launched as Searchengineposition.com in 1999. Gord Hotchkiss, now Mediative’s SVP has led the company since its founding Enquiro has a significant profile in the search marketing industry, publishing white papers, blogs, webinars, and case studies. Company founders Gord Hotchkiss and Bill Barnes are regular speakers at leading industry events worldwide, and Gord’s book The BuyerSphere Project, has generated considerable discussion on the topic of how B2B purchasing works in a digital marketplace.

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